Representing numbers that would put the adoption curve of Obamacare to shame, the Bitcoin equivalents of Paypal, BitPay, announced last week that it has now processed over $100 million in BTC transactions in 2013, has increased its merchant base to over 15,500 approved merchants in over 200 countries, but most importantly, has seen a surge in the number of merchants using its BTC payment pricing plan, by 50% since October while the volume of transactions has tripled. While the surge in the currency adoption has matched the explosive rise in the USD-value of the currency, the news should comfort any lingering doubts whether Bitcoin is a credible payment system. Which explains why Europe, which over a year was the first entity to cry foul about Bitcoin (recall from November 2012: “The ECB Explains What A Ponzi Scheme Is; Awkward Silence Follows”) when the USD-price of one BTC was still in the double digits, is doubling down in its fight against the fiat alternative, this time as the European Union’s top banking regulator is preparing to actively supervise the virtual currency.